Inspiration From Afar
by SupremeCommanderOfPencils
Summary: Castle is honing his eavesdropping skills on an unwilling pair.


_Oh, just a fun little something I wrote :) Thanks to CelticKnot12 for assistance in editing, as usual. Read, review, but overall, enjoy :)_

"Castle!"

"Huh?" Rick Castle jerked his attention back to his aggravated inspiration, Detective Kate Beckett. The subtle white noise of the busy coffee shop flooded back to his ears.

"Castle, I just said that I re-read your books every night in hopes that I dream of them and you just sat there staring at that couple like an idiot."

"Uh huh," he said distractedly, glancing back for a moment before he suddenly blinked and squinted at her. "Wait, you read my books every night in hopes that I'll be in your dreams?" He gave a slight, satisfied smile.

Kate stared at him, her eyebrow raised incredulously. Castle's smirk slid away to show a slightly disappointed look. "Oh. Right."

Beckett rolled her eyes and wrapped her hand around the warm mug in front of her, breathing in the aroma of coffee beans. "So, now that I finally have your attention, would you mind telling me what's so fascinating about them that you can't focus on reviewing the case that _you_ begged to be on?"

Castle pointed behind him at the table set for two. "Have you heard those two have been talking about?" He twisted around in his chair to peek over at the man and woman intent on conversation.

"No; I'm not an eavesdropper unless I'm on duty." Kate took a small sip from her cup.

"I think I found some fellow writers. No one else would come up with such an elaborate idea…" Castle zeroed in on them again.

"You're listening in on a private conversation; they could be on a date and you're ruining it for them. Stop staring!" Beckett whispered harshly, giving his arm a short smack.

"Ow!" Castle flinched, turning back to Kate. "I can't help it! What these two have come up with…" His eyes slipped towards the strangers again as he added, "And two people sitting at a table in a coffee shop doesn't always count as a date." He paused, and then suddenly whipped his head back towards Beckett, pulling out his charm as he raised his eyebrows. "Unless…"

"Not a chance, Castle." Kate said, watching him with a mix of annoyance and amusement. He gave the slightest sign of a frown.

"Let's get back to the case." Beckett exhaled in concentration. "Okay, so we know the brother had an alibi at his job and Esposito and Ryan are checking out the…where are you going? Castle!" Kate hissed a whisper at Rick as he suddenly slipped out of his chair and strode over to the couple he was listening to. She gave a frustrated groan.

"Excuse me," Castle said boldly as he stood next to the man and woman, who had stopped talking in their hushed tones the instant he came near.

"Yes?" The man looked up, slight suspicion in his eyes.

"I couldn't help but overhear—"

"Yes, he could have." Kate came up beside Rick, sending him a short glare before turning a polite look to the couple. "I'm sorry to interrupt you like this. We'll be going now." She directed her last words to Castle, speaking in authority.

"Oh, no, really, that's okay." The woman held up her hand, waving it in dismissal. "We were about to leave anyway." She met eyes with her friend, as if to communicate some hidden message.

"Yeah," the man agreed, looking hesitantly away from her and up at Castle. "Out of curiosity…what, uh, what did you hear?" He twirled his nearly empty Styrofoam cup on its base and the woman bit her lip.

Castle passed a concerned glance between the two before realization struck. "Oh! Oh, no, no, no, no, I, I won't steal your ideas, I promise. I'm more in the mystery genre, though I do enjoy a good Sci-Fi. So, what are your works?"

The strangers exchanged puzzled looks.

"Oh!" The man looked up, as if he understood, raising his finger, but then his brow furrowed again. "Wait, what?"

Castle's expression was slightly baffled. "Well, you…you _are_ writers, aren't you? I can usually sniff them out a mile away, and I'm right 99% of the time… Granted I've only met three other writers in person, but still, it's a pretty good track record and—"

"Castle." Kate stopped him.

"Uh, no, we're not writers." The man looked at him with an amused smile, running a hand through his dark gray hair as he shared a glance with his friend. "Though I'm sure we could quickly fill an entire series."

"Well, what I heard you talking about sounded like it could be the spark for a hit book. All those what-if scenarios you had. 'What if mind-controlling aliens came to earth', I thought, was a nice combination between normal Martians and robots. By the way, what does SGC stand for?-Ah!" Castle flinched as Beckett subtly elbowed him hard in the side.

"Uh," the man blinked.

"It stands for Space and Geocentric Communications." The woman offered quickly. "We work with deep space telemetry."

Castle's eyes lit up. "You're astronauts? Tell me the truth…are there really space cowboys?"

"Well, we prefer to call them meteor-boys." The man said, giving a casual shrug and earning an appreciative nod from the writer.

"We're not astronauts." The woman clarified, tucking a stray piece of her short, blonde hair back in place. "We're more…behind the scenes."

"Oh. Are you _sure _you're not writers?" Castle pried, squinting at both of them. "You have the great makings of one…well, from what I could hear over the Frappuccino machine anyway."

"Nope," the man shook his head. "Just plain Jane and average Joe."

Castle opened his mouth, but Beckett cut him off. "We've bugged you enough. Enjoy the rest of your coffee." She nodded goodbye and grabbed Castle's arm, ignoring his protests as she dragged him out of the café.

"You know, Castle, someday I'm going to lock you in a holding cell to keep you out of trouble." Kate vented as she briskly strode down the sidewalk.

Castle lengthened his stride, nearly skipping as he tried to keep her pace and angle himself in front of her. "What do you mean, 'trouble'? I was merely asking an innocent question. You're a detective, you should know about asking questions."

"Not irrelevant questions; my questions have purpose." She kept her eyes forward, trying to ignore the half-skipping annoyance beside her.

"I had a purpose."

"More than just ruining their date?" They stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the signal to turn.

"They weren't on a date," Castle protested. His eyes suddenly gained a faraway look. "Not officially, anyways."

"What do you mean?" Beckett glanced up at him.

"I saw the way they looked at each other….Two co-workers, trapped by rules and regulations, unable to express their true feelings that are hidden so deep within that even they don't realize it…" He met Beckett's gaze. "Until they look into each other's eyes. And in that split second they know the truth. Oh, they _know_ that they are meant for each other. But life, in its cruel, harsh way, makes a barrier between them so thin…and yet so impossible to break through in order to finally be in each other's arms."

Kate stared at Castle, her stance softening as she watched his eyes slowly focus again.

"Man! That is _good_!" His sudden outburst made Beckett flinch. He quickly patted his pockets. "I have _got_ to write that down. Do you have a pen?"

Beckett rolled her eyes as she started down the street.

"What?" Castle tailed her closely. "You'd read a story like that, wouldn't you? Who knows, it might even be put into a 10 year television series!"


End file.
